Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a leading supporter of Israel in the House, told JNS on Monday that the No. 2 House Democrat told him she does not believe that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
Gottheimer said in response to a JNS query that he had spoken with House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) after Clark mentioned “stopping the starvation and genocide and destruction of Gaza” during an event last week in her district.
Clark “made clear to me that she does not believe Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide,” the Jewish congressman told JNS. “Like all of us concerned about the situation on the ground, she is focused on surging more aid to innocent Palestinians, defeating Hamas terrorists and bringing every hostage home.”
Clark told JNS that “last week, while attending an event in my district, I repeated the word ‘genocide’ in response to a question.”
“I want to be clear that I am not accusing Israel of genocide,” she said. “We all need to work with urgency to bring the remaining hostages home, surge aid to Palestinians and oppose their involuntary relocation, remove Hamas from power and end the war.”
Gottheimer has defended Israel as the Jewish state went to war after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. He was a lead sponsor of bipartisan legislation authorizing the United States to send Israel the bunker-buster bombs, which U.S. forces dropped on underground Iranian nuclear sites, and the aircraft needed to carry them.
Clark’s comment about “genocide” came up during a forum last week held by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker group.
The congresswoman mentioned the conflict in the Middle East along with Republican efforts to redraw congressional district lines in GOP-run states, as she told attendees to “take action in time to make a difference.”
AIPAC lists Clark alongside other congressional leaders under the banner “we stand with those who stand with Israel” on its website.
It adds that Clark “has supported America’s alliance with Israel over her seven terms in office” and that after Oct. 7, she “co-sponsored and voted in favor of a resolution backing Israel and affirming her right to self-defense, while condemning Hamas and its barbaric attack on the Jewish state.”
